Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.40

M. Let us, then, despise all these follies—for what softer name can I give to such levities?—and let us lay the foundation of our happiness in the strength and greatness of our minds, in a contempt and disregard of all earthly things, and in the practice of every virtue. 

 

For at present we are enervated by the softness of our imaginations, so that, should we leave this world before the promises of our fortune-tellers are made good to us, we should think ourselves deprived of some great advantages, and seem disappointed and forlorn. 

 

But if, through life, we are in continual suspense, still expecting, still desiring, and are in continual pain and torture, good Gods! How pleasant must that journey be which ends in security and ease! How pleased am I with Theramenes! Of how exalted a soul does he appear! 

 

For, although we never read of him without tears, yet that illustrious man is not to be lamented in his death, who, when he had been imprisoned by the command of the Thirty Tyrants, drank off, at one draught, as if he had been thirsty, the poisoned cup, and threw the remainder out of it with such force that it sounded as it fell; and then, on hearing the sound of the drops, he said, with a smile, “I drink this to the most excellent Critias,” who had been his most bitter enemy; for it is customary among the Greeks, at their banquets, to name the person to whom they intend to deliver the cup. 

 

This celebrated man was pleasant to the last, even when he had received the poison into his bowels, and truly foretold the death of that man whom he named when he drank the poison, and that death soon followed. 

 

Who that thinks death an evil could approve of the evenness of temper in this great man at the instant of dying? 

 

Socrates came, a few years after, to the same prison and the same cup by as great iniquity on the part of his judges as the tyrants displayed when they executed Theramenes. What a speech is that which Plato makes him deliver before his judges, after they had condemned him to death! 

—from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.40

 

While Cicero is an eclectic thinker, always ready to find something of benefit in many different traditions, here he sounds very much the Stoic, as he firmly appeals to the content of character as a remedy for our fears and frustrations. 

 

The fundamental principles of Stoic ethics are all expounded. Why should I spend so much of my time battling against petty circumstances, which will only bring me continual worry, when the real task is in improving myself? Wherever I can reform my thinking, I can also increase my resolve, and I will no longer feel the need to foolishly expect comfort from changing fortunes. 

 

Instead of bemoaning the state of the world, let me attend to my own virtues. Impressions do not need to hold me hostage, and the imagination is made for me to tame. Nothing is hideous unless I choose it to be so; anything is to my advantage when it is accompanied by wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. 

 

Anxiety and terror give way to peace of mind if only I focus on living well at this very moment, for the sake of living well alone and demanding nothing further in return. History and literature are full of fine examples I can follow, those who came to terms with who they were, and so could rise above hardships and smile at death. Such stories can be quite dramatic, but the point should be to calmly fortify our reasoning, not merely to set the passions aflutter. 

 

Theramenes is an interesting choice here, since he was always such a controversial figure. Perhaps that is, however, an ideal reason to consider him, as he stuck to his convictions, regardless of whether he was praised or condemned. The intrepid way he accepted his death is a sign of how he remained his own master to the end, and how he did not permit himself to be intimidated by events. 

 

After Athens had been defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, Theramenes allied himself with the oligarchs, surely concerned about the dangers of mob rule. In doing so, he made enemies of those who cherished more democratic institutions, and yet he also increasingly opposed the heavy hand of the Thirty Tyrants, insisting that a rule of the few did not have to be brutal and lawless. 

 

It should sound terribly familiar to anyone who has followed a conscience in the face of factions. It is hard to keep your head on straight, let alone even keep your head on at all, when everyone else is picking sides and holding grudges. 

 

Critias, one of the darlings of the moment, condemned Theramenes, even going so far as to have his name removed from the roster of citizens so that there would be no need for the inconvenience of a trial. 

 

So Theramenes was given the hemlock, and whatever the merits of his politics, I can’t help but admire his mettle. Why be frightened, after all, if an impending death could not extinguish the dignity of a life? An enlightened attitude about the purpose of existence will negate anguish about the cessation of existence. 

 

Socrates would soon meet a similar fate at the hands of the Athenians, and display a similar sort of moral confidence. Dying does not makes us any worse, and hence we do not need to run away from it. 

—Reflection written in 5/1996